Local girl en route to stardom

Wednesday

Jan 30, 2013 at 9:00 AMJan 30, 2013 at 9:14 AM

For most people, the idea of auditioning for a national singing competition would be intimidating to say the least. But, for 10 year-old Andrea Luna, it's exciting."I don't get nervous when I go to auditions," Andrea said. "I just trust myself, and know that I'll do a good job."

Julia Kazar

For most people, the idea of auditioning for a national singing competition would be intimidating to say the least. But, for 10 year-old Andrea Luna, it's exciting. "I don't get nervous when I go to auditions," Andrea said. "I just trust myself, and know that I'll do a good job."In a few weeks, Andrea and her family will be traveling to Miami so she can audition for a version of The Voice-Kids set to air on Telemundo.A few months ago, her mom, Julia, saw an ad on TV looking for children to participate in the show. She sent an e-mail to the producers with a video of Andrea singing. They got a call back saying Andrea had made it through to the next round. The next step was an audition in Dallas, which Andrea breezed through. Now, Andrea and her family will travel to Miami for two weeks for more auditions. Andrea will have to sing unaccompanied this time, and if she makes the final cut, she'll get to perform for the actual judges.The Voice-Kids will be just like the popular NBC version, with the judges all facing away from the contestant. If they like Andrea, and want her to be on their "team" they'll turn their chair around. If Andrea wins the competition, she will get to record an album and will receive a scholarship. The one difference between the NBC show and the Telemundo series, is this version will be in Spanish. Andrea's family discovered that she had a talent for singing two years ago. And it was only about a year ago that she started singing in public. Andrea mostly sings with her church choir, and her school group, but that could all change very soon. Andrea sings in both English and Spanish, but she said she prefers Spanish. And she's already making plans for her album she would record if she won. "I would record Spanish songs," Andrea said. "I like singing those better."Andrea said she practices one to two songs everyday to keep her vocal cords in tune. "I start by singing one song," Andrea said of her practice. "I sing it over and over, then I'll sing another one."And of course, singing with the church choir is great practice too. Andrea couldn't pick just one favorite song. "There's so many!" she said. But her mom said she likes to sing "Cucurrucucu" a lot. According to her mom, "Cucurrucucu Paloma" is a challenging song because it's sung in a falsetto. It's a traditional Mexican song, in a similar style to Mariacchi music. When she's not singing, Andrea likes to draw, exercise and just spend time with her family. But her dream is to be a singer when she grows up, and she's already well on her way to making that happen.

Watch Andrea sing "Cucurrucucu" at dodgeglobe.com. To see even more of her videos check out her YouTube channel; Andrea Luna.